Category: Boats

I have spent a lifetime on Powerboats. My parents both speak with a starry look in their eyes of me as a four-week-old in a basket on the floor of their speedboat and out of the sun for hours at a time. Their voices drift on about “happy baby” and “slept really well” and “lulled so easily”. It was the 1960s, so having a newborn in a basket without a life preserver was the norm. And, if I know anything about boating, hours really means all day.

This summer, I reminisced about my lifetime at the lake with my best friend. She too, through her friendship with me, has spent hours on boats and days on the water. She remembers vividly the large cabin cruiser my parents had when we both met in the 5th grade. We would leave the marina on Friday night – fully loaded with food, water and friends – and not return until late Sunday afternoon. We slept in quiet coves throughout the summers of the late 1970s under pitch black skies. The gentle lapping of dark water on the sides of the boat and the gentle winds pulling us on our anchor line could put any slightly sunburned and exhausted child to sleep. It was magical.

To this day, I can drift to sleep so easily on a boat just by being near the engine. Currently, my father owns two boats. One is a vintage treasure, and the other is a fairly new 30-foot pontoon boat. One I can take out and drive on a whim. The other, not without my father. The vintage treasure looks brand new, and the utilitarian pontoon is gently used.

His vintage boat is a 1973 Fino. It is immaculate – from the twin 440 Chrysler engines to the rolled and pleated white interior upholstery with chocolate brown piping. The wood in the cabin is teak. Remarkably, it is not a “blast from the past” that needs to be updated. It doesn’t reek of all the bad design that came from the 1970s. It is brim full of glamour and high design. I have seen a lot of boats on the water – and wooden boats are my favorite when they are in the water – but this fiberglass wonder is still sporting its original paint, and I challenge anyone to find a boat that sits more beautifully in the water. It doesn’t look like it has been placed in the water; it looks like it is of the water. It is a testament to my father’s dedication to preserving boats that are worthy of that kind of attention and financial commitment. The boat only has 300 hours to her name and virtually purrs under power.

When you ride on it – which I haven’t for probably 5 years – you feel like a rock star. Or maybe you’re Grace Kelly or George Clooney skirting around the Mediterranean on a perfectly appointed Italian racing boat. It rides like a dream and has never seen salt water. It was purchased new at the Miami Boat Show in the early 70s and was brought directly to the Lake of the Ozarks. My father is only the second owner.

Twelve years ago, I took my newborn aboard this boat for a ride. Yep, he was in my arms and in a lifejacket, not in the basket of yore. He was smiling and happy until the engines roared to life and then, miraculously, he was sleepy long before naptime. We didn’t see his eyes for three hours – the entire time we were away from the dock that day. It was a magical afternoon, and he spent a small amount of time in the V-berth while I sat daydreaming in the sun. I will never pass up a chance to ride on a boat – even if it’s just for a short trip to the gas dock. And I will never pass up a chance to ride with my father. We usually ride in silence because it’s the best way to take it all in. You can’t hear the wind and all the nuances of a boat if your mouth is open.

My best friend and I had to make a very quick trip to the lake in early September. We left at 2:30 pm on a weekday afternoon, drove directly to my Dad’s place at the lake, and retrieved the items that had been forgotten the weekend before. Then we made the turn for home, but not until we had spent a good 1/2 hour on the dock with the Fino sleeping quietly under her custom cover and perched on her lift. We spoke for a while but were silent for longer. The water was being smoothed by a gentle shower, and I was drifting off to a time I remember with her on the Fino. It was her first ride on this magnificent boat, and we were both allowed to ride on what we called “the bimbo deck” – those two long cushions with built in pillows that make up the back third of the boat and cover the hatches to the powerful engines. I remember we rode talking for a while, and then we were asleep. The basket that was holding us that day was much larger that the one I was in as a child, but it was just as sound – and I’m guessing my father was just happy that the children were asleep and he was left in peace.

PS…The photos above are of my father’s treasure. It was exciting this summer while I was on vacation to have “his” boat show up in two national magazines, Town & Country and Vanity Fair. Click the images at the right to read these little snippets and see why, in my humble opinion, the Riva boat company knows exactly where to go in its archives to find one of the greatest boats ever designed. And click here to find out about new boats reinterpreted from Riva’s classic designs.

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